July 2018 Writing Goals Review and August 2018 Writing Goals

Post date: 1st August 2018

Oh no, it’s August! (Runs around screaming) It’s crazy how quickly July went. To be honest, it still feels like the start of July.

Sadly, July didn’t go to plan. While I did well with my reading goals – I even squeezed in a Sharon Bolton short story – I didn’t do so well with my writing goals.

So, let’s see what I did, or didn’t do, in July.

Writing Goal 1: Novel 4th draft – edit 10,000 wordsResult: I did work on the novel at the beginning of July, but I’ve not touched it since. With my Oldbury Writing Group anthology deadline drawing near, any writing/editing time has had to go to that.

Writing Goal 2: Do outline task 1 for 2nd standalone novelResult: I’ve not made much progress with this goal either. Lately, I’ve had to work late into the evening, which hasn’t left much time for the planning of this novel. However, while I may not have made any more notes, the story is still forming in my mind, so I may have done more than I realised.

Writing Goal 3: OWG anthology – finalise 2 story/poemResult: Okay, I finally did do something. Now I didn’t complete the two pieces, but I did complete one and a half, so nearly there. However, the deadline for these pieces is the end of August, and out of ten pieces I only have five completed pieces. It looks like I have a lot of work to do in August.

Writing Goal 4: Read Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy CollinsResult: I read this book, and I quite enjoyed it. I’ll be adding a review of this book on my website at a later date.

Writing Goal 5: Read a short story – ‘The Body Snatcher’ by Robert Louis StevensonResult: Yes, I also read this. While reading, it did feel like I had already read the story, but it was still a good read, even if it was for the second time.

Read a short story – ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

I have now made more time for my writing in the hopes of finishing this novel already. So in August, I plan to edit half of my novel. I should also no longer have to work so late in the evening, which means I should have more time to plan the second novel.

As you can see, I’ve added a new goal – yes, finally. I had an idea to make audio recordings to go with the flash fictions already on my website, so I’m going to try it out to see if it works. I’ve also not named the book I will be reading this month because I’m waiting to see which one of the books I’ve reserved from the library comes first.

Final note: I will be working on a website redesign. So if you notice anything looking odd, it’s just because I’m messing with the website.

As always, I have big plans, but this time, fingers crossed, I will have better progress.

How did you do in July? Feel free to comment below. I’d love to hear how everyone else is doing.

Keep writing, folks!

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